The “Land of the Pure” is once again being blackmailed by Zia’s vision. His creation, the Taliban and his laws that persecute minorities are at the forefront of all that is bad in Pakistan. The controversial laws are used to resolve land disputes mainly in the rural areas of Punjab and to remove the vulnerable and untouchable members of minority religions, by intolerant communities. In many cases the real perpetrators of blasphemy, who disgrace the holy prophets by inciting hatred and enacting blasphemy claims for their own benefit, do so with impunity.
Minorities in Pakistan are very well aware of the sensitive emotions of their Muslim countrymen. It is inconceivable that they would ever use derogatory remarks for the prophets of any religion. They simply do not need to and are very aware of the fatal consequences. However, the detestation for minorities is a common theme amongst rural communities. The minority community is frequently subjected to verbal and physical abuse. They are expected to remain silent if something insulting is said regarding their religion and in the main they comply. In recent times we have seen an increase in malevolence towards the Christian community much due to the Iraq and Afghanistan War which is perceived by many extremists and those they influence, as a religious war between Christianity and Islam. This has resulted in a heightened level of blasphemy cases and large scale incidents of persecution, yet few cases attain any media attention. many cases simply go unnoticed. This rise in intolerance and hatred for minorities has been allowed to continue, mostly unchecked, by the very state whose duty it is to protect them.

There was a naughty boy,
And a naughty boy was he,
He would not stop at home,
He would not quiet be.– John Keats

There are so many memories of those days gone by, that it is almost impossible to be coherent about them. Suffice it to say, that as I was seven years old when Salmaan was born, I ‘brought him up by hand’, as did Pip’s older sister in Great Expectations. He took his first wobbly steps under the supervision of myself and our best friends Bonnie and Deepak Surjit Singh in Simla in the 1940’s, with much applause to accompany the feat…

After that momentous wobble, Salmaan, or Billoo, as he was then called, grew into a chubby toddler with curly hair, luminous sparkling eyes and ‘a cupid’s bow mouth’, as he himself described it. As for the nickname Billoo, he grew to hate it, and eventually got rid of it by refusing to answer anyone unless they addressed him by his given name.

The Simla days saw Salmaan grow from a baby wearing smocked outfits into a rosy cheeked rascal in knickers. He was very much in the company of his aayah from Jammu, Mai Soma by then, as I was going to Simla’s Christ Church School, with scarcely any time for either him or my flaxen haired sibling Mariam, who was also rosy cheeked, but with a belligerent look to her eye, which boded ill for all those who crossed her.

From Simla we moved to Delhi, where our father was now Deputy Director of the Labour Department, after having worked in the Government of India’s Anti-War Ministry in Simla. Once again Salmaan was a little boy who was there but not really there, as he was under the supervision of Mai Soma, that formidable Jamvaal of Rubenesque proportions, which were much appreciated by the male visitors who came to our colonial-style bungalow at 48 Lodhi Road. The more visible and audible member of our trio was Mariam, whose eternal cry was, ‘Main ne bhi jaana hai,’ whenever she saw me leave on one of my excursions with my cyclist gang. She also wormed her way into the hedges in our garden which were hollow, and could be turned into rooms in which to play ‘House House’. But Salmaan remained aloof from all this terrorist activity as he was simply too little. However he certainly made his presence felt when he succumbed to a severe ear infection which would have killed him had it not been for the newly-invented penicillin drug which saved his life.

Times, going too swift _ roving all around & considering the golden sun glimmers of October 18, 2007 _ Ah! A scrutiny of the ambiance all about _ Either gazing at the sky, were those the crests of Himalayas or the gesticulates of the Arabian _ Were those wolfs in the woods or doves in the air _ Whether that was the soil or the firmament ¬_ All around was dispersed a Hope _ An expect which had likely died off, over a century _ Where the eyes caught spectacle of nothing, but red, green & black flags, casing the scope_ No words, but JEAY BHUTTO & WELCOME BENAZIR! _ O! Then unquestionably, one starts to muse about “Who Benazir?” The rejoinder comes “The same daughter of the East, who was banished, eight years ago” and then probably, the question “Why”? And the answer, I guess it’s what so likely fair in Pakistan’s politics only_ the only rationale following was that she spoke for classlessness, concerned, not for her own luxuries, but for the people of Pakistan! Exactly, she did not hold empathy, too callous enough to see millions starving or reaching the heavens, due to anguish and even greater excruciating is the fact that people who committed suicide, just because they had no means of survival. For these pitiable and distressed people, it was PPP which spoke of “BREAD, CLOTHING & SHELTER”, but who in the world can value that in Pakistan, and according to the commandments of the KING’S Parties, these things are just the chattels of the ruling class_ Not a layman, of course, from their point of view, he does not even acquire the right to take a gasp in the atmosphere of the state or moreover, he’s to reimburse the outlay of the sky as well. Situations like such prevail in the state & still, they speak of Change _ of a Revolution, superior to the FRENCH REVOLUTION, Oh God! It’s they, who address of ECONOMIC STABILITY in the country or they don’t have a little ignominy in uttering such a big lie in front of the world “Only 15% of the country’s total population is beneath the contour of poverty”, but start to knock every door _ The door of a layman’s house and then figure up the number of families, who daily take their meal twice…! You’d get to recognize the facts. Yeah! It is the same politicians, who speak of DEMOCRACY & tot up out the number of political prisoners in every jail of Pakistan! O! What a great democracy?? The leaders of the time, I mean the President or the Prime Minister mistook to declare PAKISTAN as the LARGEST DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC of the world_ oh! Such a Republic, in which the opposition was never even authorized to sit in the Parliament! God!!! When I inscribe this too, the highlighter slithers out of hand & for a while, I think like “Can I _ Who hardly knows the meaning of starvation can subsist in such clauses?” “I _ who’s hardly or assembled out of the well furnished rooms can ever imagine of living in a prison”? That all pinches the peace of mind & thereby, such incidents, & the people conscientious for the crisis _ their shoe doesn’t even hassle _ God! Can a person be such a sick??? Or too arctic to feel anyone else’s pain??? At least, there are people like so in Pakistan’s politics!

The historic flooding that has ravaged Pakistan was considered for a brief period to be a grave threat to the country’s stability. Analysts were unsure if the young democratic government would be able to provide relief and reconstruction services enough to satisfy a panicking public. As the waters subsided, though, the civilian government demonstrated that it could work with the military and the international community to provide services to the people. Today, however, the government faces a possibly greater challenge: continued attacks from the nation’s judiciary.

Pakistan’s judiciary has been threatening to topple the democratically elected government in what many are calling a “coup by other means”. While unprecedented challenges to elected officials have been going on for some time, the courts appear to be determined to continue their attacks.

LONDON, Oct 11 (APP)- Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party  Bilawal Bhutto  Zardari has  expressed gratitude  to the  government and people of Turkey for timely and generous assistance  to the flood victims in Pakistan .Speaking as the  chief  guest of a fund raiser dinner for Pakistan flood victims hosted by  Ambassador of Turkey to the UK Unal Cevikoz and Mrs Cevikoz at their residence at the weekend, he said: “We are grateful to the brotherly Turkish Government and its people for their urgent assistance to the flood victims in Pakistan. We know in our hour of distress people and the Turkish government are always by our side.” Prominent among those who attended the event were  Pakistan High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan,  and leading Turkish business personalities based  in London.

The PPP Chairman  highlighted the significance  of  valuable help from Turkey saying that “Turkey’s timely assistance in kind and cash has been enormous and it is continuing. It is not a one-time affair. For this act of generosity and brotherhood people and government of Pakistan shall remain grateful to the people and the government of Turkey.”